Bent
by Cryo-Mystic
Summary: Missing moment between Charlie and Ana during the balloon trek.


Bent

Chana Missing Moment

The small fire in the middle of the jungle snapped, instantly waking a fallen god from slumber. Mosquitoes tried to bite at his nose; he swatted them away and turned over trying to get back to sleep. He was always a light sleeper, maybe it was because he was afraid he'd miss something or his mind just wouldn't stop going a million miles an hour, he was never sure. He tossed and turned again, desperately trying to find a comfortable position on the lumpy jungle floor.

"You couldn't sleep either?" A female voice called softly from the other side of the fire.

It was then Charlie finally remembered where he was: on the jungle trek with Ana-Lucia and Sayid. He had brought a gun along with out their knowledge, but like most as his plans, he was found out. He gave the gun to Sayid, but not with out messing with Ana first: a fake out with the gun. It was easy, it was original, and it was mean. But hey, he had a lot of penned up anger, and who better to take it out on than the one other person the whole camp didn't seem to like.

"Evidently not." He sat up answering her question. She was sitting on a log looking into the fire, fiddling with a stick. Charlie's eyes shifted over to Sayid's sleeping form, he must've gone to sleep sometime after he did. Disgruntled, Charlie stood up and stretched his legs. His eyes gazed upwards to the sky, which was blocked by the canopy of the jungle.

"I heard some people talking on the beach the other day, they said you killed one of them a few weeks back." Ana said momentarily looking up from the fire.

Charlie stopped dead in his tracks, automatically remembering the day he shot Ethan. He had done it out of vengeance for what he had done to him and Claire…That bastard deserved to die, and Charlie's mind would never change as long as he lived. Ghostly scars of the noose that had been around his neck were still there, reminding him of that day. His memories were still fuzzy, but he had enough to know that he had gotten in the way so 'they' hanged him and left him for dead. And all he wanted to do was protect Claire, but that was worthless now.

"Yeah…I did." He said quietly turning around to face her. "I shot him, six times." He made sure she heard the last bit, so she'd know that he actually was capable of handling a weapon. The fallen rock god circled the fire and stood just a few feet away from her.

It took her a few moments to answer, almost shocked that what she had heard was true, "Back on the other side of the island, the others had sent in a plant to infiltrate our camp. His name was Goodwin. I found him out pretty quickly, but I didn't tell the other survivors. One day, we were up on a hill and I called him on his lies, and he attacked me. Out of self defense, I killed him." Her gaze was once again one the fire.

Charlie was shocked, he had known that she killed Shannon, but this was completely new to him. "Ethan was a plant too." He added as he came and sat next to her. "He had lied about who he was, and kidnapped Claire and I. Unfortunately I got in the way so they hanged me and left me for dead." He grazed his scars with the tips of his fingers, "If Kate and Jack hadn't found me when they did, I wouldn't be sitting here right now; although, with the events of this past week, that scenario doesn't sound so bad."

"I guess we're in the same boat then." He looked at her curiously, "I mean, not liked by most people. I killed one of your people, and you tried to drown one."

Charlie's eyes flashed angrily, "I wasn't going to drown him! I was just trying to get him baptized. No one would listen to me because I'm just a junkie; a bloody worthless junkie who's automatically using because he had some weird dreams."

Ana sighed, "but you could've drowned him Charlie, at least in their eyes."

"Oh and I suppose you've never done anything out of utter desperation before have you?" He shot back.

Ana froze, remembering when she killed the man who killed her unborn child, "Yes, and I believe you Charlie, it's just you have to see it through their eyes, no matter how hypocritical they are."

"Well as long as we understand each other." Charlie agreed. He felt his eyes grow heavy again; he needed to go back to sleep. He yawned as he stood up and walked around the fire to his sleeping spot. As he sank down onto the hard jungle floor he looked across the clearing and over at Ana. He sighed, "Ana?"

"Yeah Charlie?"

"Sorry about the gun earlier." He apologized.

The ex-cop nodded understanding, "It's ok Charlie."

FIN


End file.
